French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to prevent a “conflagration” between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon during a telephone call between the two leaders, AFP reports.

Macron “reiterated his serious concern over a deepening of tensions between Hezbollah and Israel […] and underscored the absolute need to prevent a conflagration that would harm the interests of Lebanon as well as Israel,” the French presidency said in a statement.

He also insisted on the “urgency for all parties to move rapidly toward a diplomatic solution” to end the fighting in Gaza sparked by the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas.

“The two leaders discussed the diplomatic efforts underway towards this,” the Elysee Palace said, ahead of a visit by the US envoy for the conflict, Amos Hochstein, to Paris on Wednesday.

Macron also called on Netanyahu to refrain from any “new operation” in Gaza near Rafah or Khan Yunis, “which would only aggravate the human toll and a humanitarian situation that is already catastrophic”, the Elysee said.